GMR-Megawide submits $3 billion NAIA rehab plan to gov't

ABS-CBN News

MANILA - Megawide and its Indian partner, GMR, said Thursday it submitted a $3 billion (P156.3 billion) proposal to rehabilitate the Philippine capital's main airport.

The GMR-Megawide consortium said it had a "deep understanding" of the congestion problem at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, citing its experience in refurbishing airports in the Indian capital of New Delhi and the Mactan-Cebu Airport.

The consortium said it hoped to raise the annual passenger capacity of NAIA to 72 million during the 18-year concession period.

Its proposal is separate from the one submitted last month by a "super consortium" composed of the country's 7 largest companies, valued at P350 billion.

"The GMR-Megawide proposal is anchored on resolving what they perceive as the main issue faced by NAIA: capacity," the consortium said in a statement.

The consortium said it would work on increasing the capacity of the airfield without necessarily building a new runway.

The first phase will improve airside capacity and terminal improvements in the first 2 years, introducing "world class" performance measures in the third and fourth years and building future capacity in the fifth and sixth years.

Immediately upon takeover, GMR-Megawide said it would construct full-length taxiways for the primary and secondary runways, additional rapid-exit taxiways for the primary runway and an extension of the secondary runway among others.

Building a new runway that is dependent on the existing facility is an "unviable" solution because it would only add "marginal" capacity, GMR-Megawide said.